Voter suppression, explained

what it is

Voter suppression is the act of deliberately limiting or controlling the number and/or race, ethnicity, political bias, and more of people who vote. Politicians usually do this for their own political gain; typically, they'll control the outcome of an election so that they or a candidate they favour wins. Defined by the information website Demand the Vote, voter suppression is "any effort, either legal or illegal, by way of laws, administrative rules, and/or tactics that prevents eligible voters from registering to vote or voting". Let's break that sentence down.

• any effort, either legal or illegal — Voter suppression can take many forms, and some of them, like strategically moving polling stations, are technically legal.

• by way of laws, administrative rules, and/or tactics — Like I said before, the possibilities are endless for ways to suppress democracy, although some have become more popular among rulers than others.

• that prevents eligible voters from registering to vote or voting — This part is pretty self-explanatory. Voter suppression tries to control the outcome of an election by suppressing the votes of some people, either by making sure they don't vote or nullifying their votes once they have.

how Trump's doing it

America's election system had its issues before the pandemic; politicians gerrymandered, the popular vote didn't guarantee the president, and there were already direct efforts—such as intimidation and excessive bureaucracy—to discourage certain demographics (mostly young people and people of colour, especially African Americans) from voting. Add the last few months of coronavirus and the presidency into the mix, and you've got a recipe for disaster. Recently, you may have heard about suspicions of Trump's use of voter suppression to try to win this year's presidential election. Strategies that are likely to be intentional, like slowing down the postal service (more people are voting by mail because of covid-19), combine with accidental events—like long lines—that happen to be convenient for the current administration, and so are left alone and not dealt with. This year's election process is fraught with covid-related problems, and the Trump administration is not doing anything about them because it knows its chances of survival are likely to depend on whether certain people vote or not.

what you can do about it

Luckily for us, the United States' democracy is still hanging on, if under increasing attack. Here are some ways you can help save it:

• If you're old enough and a US citizen, vote. Please. With this much suppression, every single vote holds power.

• Read this Washington Post article about the suppression strategies being used and how to counter them. Google 'voter suppression' and explore other resources.

• Spread awareness. Post links to this article and others like it. The more people who know what's at stake, the more people who will vote.